Police: St. Charles 'Jesus' suspect pretended to be in fight

ST. CHARLES – The man claiming to be Jesus on Sunday morning in an incident at Hotel Baker was cited even earlier that day with public drunkenness, after he and another man sought attention by pretending to fight, according to a St. Charles Police Department report.

Police responded to the 100 block of West Main Street at about 12:48 a.m. after a witness reported seeing two men, later identified as Joseph Jeffery Hlatko and Christopher S. Kuhn, fighting.

Hlatko reportedly told police that he and Kuhn weren't really fighting. Instead, he said, they wanted to see what type of response they'd get if they pretended to fight on Main Street, according to the report.

Kuhn reportedly confirmed the story.

He told police that he and Hlatko initially were in the 0-100 block of South First Street, where Hlatko had a bottle of liquor, and they began drinking, police reported. For no reason, Hlatko took Kuhn's glasses off his face and threw them in the Fox River, and the two decided to see what reaction they'd get if they pretended to fight, Kuhn reportedly told police.

"Christopher stated that when they received no attention, they moved to the 100 block of West Main Street and pretended to fight," according to the report.

Hlatko, 51, of the 200 block of South Second Street, St. Charles, and Kuhn, 30, of the 1700 block of Covington Court, St. Charles, each were charged with public drunkenness.

Later that morning, Hlatko was reportedly charged with criminal trespass to real property and obstructing and resisting police after an incident at Hotel Baker, 100 W. Main St., St. Charles. In that instance, Hlatko told police he was Jesus Christ and that the police officer was Satan, according to a police report.